GE Run 2009 For Ladies Only

Last year this time, Winnie participated in GE 2008 5km run for the first time and in this year's event, she ran the competitive 10 km. This year is GE 4th consecutive time and for Winnie, her second.

Got up this morning at about 0530 hrs, picked up Winnie at about 0600 hrs and we arrived at the start point near Esplanade at about 0630 hrs. Admittedly, I was quite concerned Winnie may not last the gruelling 10 km run as she had not been training quite regularly for a while. The last 10 km run she did was in May, the PAssion Run where I did 15 km and since then, she had intermittent training.

Did the usual routine as last year, she had to go to the toilet at Esplanade en-route (there are many mobile toilets near the Padang but she still chose the toilet at Esplanade for obvious reason) before heading to the start point.

Flagged-off at 0700 hrs by Her Excellency, the Ambassador from the Philippines, there were some 14,000 female runners as announced by the gregarious MC on the air.

I did not expect her to do better than the one we did in March this year where she clocked a creditable 1 hour 4 mins plus, 1 hour 10 min under would be more realistic this time around. But I was proven wrong in my 'guesstimation' (I am more than happy to be proven wrong), the gun time showed 1 hr 6 mins something when I saw her making a final dash to the finishing line. About 2 mins to be taken off as she had started quite far back (need to verify her final timing when result is finalised in a couple of days), I'm sure she clocked some 1 hr 4 mins plus and boy, I must admit this is a fantastic result for her. Had she put in more training, she could have come in under 1 hour.

Winnie, I congratulate you for a good effort in this GE event and I shall look forward to another good result in your last event of the year, the 10 km Stanchart Marathon. Keep up the running spirit, never say die. Cheers!

To Bukit Timah Summit

The run to Bukit Timah Summit on last Sunday (27 Sep) was my first attempt and for Chua, his third or fourth I think. Got up at about 6.15am and arrived at Chua's place before 7am, he was already warming up at the carpark. Chua is staying at Bukit Panjang, fairly near to Bukit Timah. We used to have three musketeers, missing was Eddie.

From Chua's place, we ran to the forested pipeline heading to Rifle Range. The terrain was quite undulating, tougher than running on a normal tarred road which took us under half an hour to reach the fringe of Rifle Range where Eddie lives. We then made an u-turn to the mid-point, one of the routes up Bukit Timah summit.

Chua led the way, I followed behind. Unlike Mt Faber, the steps were uneven and not cemented. We had to watch out for the protuding roots, a mis-step could spell trouble. It was a long run up the improvised steps, as if never ending. I had to stop to catch a breather or two while Chua continued his ascend. We huffed and we puffed, we finally reached but the half-way mark only. I had to stop, my muscles were already aching. After a short rest, we continued again. And there we were but only just, we had reached the final assault base to the summit. We took longer rest, loosen up our joints and muscles. Chua signalled to me whether I was ready for the final ascend, and yes, I was raring to go. Almost immediately, we made a dash up. Chua was infront followed by me. He was inching faster and faster ahead of me, I pressed on but only barely. My legs were aching and tried I did but each step forward was getting slower and slower. After covering two third on the final ascend, I had to walk. Chua who was almost reaching the top, also stopped to walk. Finally, we reached the summit. We took picture of each other, clearly satisfied of our feat.

For our descend, we chose the forested path over the easier tarred pathway. We had to walk for most part, pratically not possible to run down. There was quite a crowd, many senior citizens and young children were slowly walking up. We finally reached the newly opened park, took a short tour around at the place before running back to Chua's place. I had breakfast with Chua, his wife and the children and by the time I reached home, I was dead-tired. Stayed home the whole day but still managed to do some house chores. In our next assault to Bukit Timah summit, it will not be complete without Eddie. We should be ready to conquer our 42 km marathon come December, I hope.

Another Comical Comment From Malaysia Tourism Minister

I wonder, has food anything to do with politics where Malaysia current sorry state-of-affair is concerned?, just wonder aloud! The honourable Tourism Minister, YB Dr Ng Yen Yen, who launched the Malaysia International Gourmet Festival recently complained some countries 'hijacked' some of so-called Malaysia local food as their own, which include Bak Kut Teh, Laksa, Hainanese Chicken Rice, Nasi Lemak and Chilli Crab...what craps!

As a learned and seasoned politician, she should not have not known Singapore and Malaysia were intertwined historically & culturally (or she chose not to know for obvious reasons) and at the same time, inherited some old political baggage (sigh!) after Singapore gained her independence on 9 August 1965.

If she had intended to shore up much needed public support after a big lashing by Indonesia for the boo-boo in featuring Bali penyet dance as Malaysia's own, her undiplomatic comment certainly did not gain her friends in Singapore too. Using food at the expense of friends to gain political mileage for herself, for her badly bruised political party 'mired in civil squabble' only worsen situation.

So what if these food originated from Malaysia, YB? Will tourists be lured to Malaysia because Malaysia has now claimed a world's first on Bak Kut Teh, Laksa, Hainanese Chicken Rice, Nasi Lemak and Chilli Crab and for that, all Malaysians will give you a thumbs-up for a good job done as the Tourism Minister? The job of a Tourism Minister does not end with food only but you certainly need to watch your own waistline though. Wishful thinking, YB.

Jailed For Wearing Pants

If the recent incident in Malaysia involving a Muslim lady caught drinking and sentenced to be whipped though the case is still pending has not caused much hue-and-cry, this one that happened in Sudan is even more absurd. See the story below by Guillaume Lavallee.



KHARTOUM (AFP) – Sudanese journalist Lubna Ahmed Hussein who spent a day in jail for refusing to pay a fine for wearing "indecent trousers" vowed on her release on Tuesday to keep up the battle against the law.

"We will continue the fight to change this law, the public order police, the public order tribunals," she told AFP at the offices of Ajras Al-Hurriya (Bells of Freedom) newspaper where noisy supporters celebrated her release.

Hussein was imprisoned on Monday after she refused to pay the fine imposed earlier the same day by a Khartoum court for wearing trousers deemed indecent. She could have faced one month in jail.

"She came out of prison. We paid the 500-pound (200-dollar) fine," explained Mohiedinne Titawi, president of the Sudanese Union of Journalists, announcing the release.

"I don't even know who paid the fine, I had told my family and friends not to pay it," Hussein said.

The journalist was wearing slacks when she was arrested along with 12 other women in a Khartoum restaurant in July.

Sudanese law in the conservative Muslim north stipulates a maximum of 40 lashes for wearing indecent clothing.

Women in trousers are not a rare sight in Sudan but the authorities can take offence at trousers which reveal too much of a woman's shape, leading to accusations from rights groups that judgement is arbitrary.

In Hussein's case, the court opted for the 500 Sudanese pounds (200 dollars) fine rather than a flogging, but ten of the 12 other women who were arrested in a Khartoum restaurant at the same time as Hussein have been whipped for their offence.

Last year nearly 43,000 women were detained for indecent clothing offences in Khartoum region, where five million people live, according to Hussein's supporters.

Hussein, who was released after one day when the journalists' union paid her fine, felt the loose trousers she was wearing when arrested were not indecent and the incident spurred her to wage a public challenge to the law.

She resigned from the United Nations so she could stand trial and publicise her campaign.

In the trial, the judge sought to determine whether her trousers were too tight, according to witnesses in the court, which was closed to journalists.

She has pledged to continue fighting the law, challenging anyone to provide her evidence that it has grounds in the Koran and the Prophetic traditions, which comprise the source of Islamic legislation.

"I'm ready for anything to happen. I'm absolutely not afraid of the verdict," she told AFP in an interview on August 3. "If I'm sentenced to be whipped, or to anything else, I will appeal. I will see it through to the end, to the constitutional court if necessary.

Her case led to an outcry abroad and demonstrations at home.

The office of the UN human rights chief on Tuesday said her sentencing breached international law and exemplified the discrimination faced by women in Sudan.

"Lubna Hussein's case is, in our view, emblematic of a wider pattern of ... application of discriminatory laws against women in Sudan," said Rupert Colville, spokesman for the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.

On Friday, Amnesty International urged the Khartoum government to withdraw the charges against Hussein, saying the law used to justify flogging women for wearing clothes deemed "indecent" should be repealed.

My Reply to Dr Mahathir

Tun Dr Mahathir, the 4th PM of Malaysia posted this article below, titled 'Sound Bites (Water for Singapore) on his blog, http://chedet.co.cc/chedetblog/2009/08/sound-bites-water-for-singapor.html and this was in reply to current Malaysia Dy PM, Tan Sri Muhyiddin, who recently publicly mentioned to the press that MM Lee did threaten to go to war with Malaysia if water supply could not be resolved then when he was the MB of Johor.

The following text was quoted by Dr M himself:

Quote
1. Tan Sri Muhyiddin spoke the truth about my persuading him to supply water to Singapore (read here). But Lee Kuan Yew did not threaten to go to war if we did not supply water. If he had done that, I think I would have stopped any further supply.

2. We were at that time trying to be friendly with Singapore in order to solve several problems. Although raw water would be supplied at 3 cent per 1000 gallons, the understanding was that in future only treated water would be supplied when our treatment plants would be ready. We would also not buy any more treated water from Singapore at 50 cent per thousand gallons when our new treatment plant in Johore is ready.

3. When we no longer needed to buy treated water from Singapore we could raise the price of raw water to Singapore without Singapore being able to raise the price of treated water to us.

4. However when we concluded the water supply agreement Singapore raised a lot of issues regarding our railway land, the CIQ (Customs, Immigration and Quarantine) at Tanjong Pagar, training flights by Singapore warplanes over Malaysia and the Central Provident Funds.

5. At that stage I realised that being friendly with Singapore did not pay.

6. I don't know about the sale of land to Singapore but as it was agreed that a treatment plant be built by Singapore in Johore, land would have to be made available.
Unquote

I posted my personal comment to Dr M on his blog but for some reasons, it is not posted though some 72 comments have been posted by him.

The following is my reply to Dr M and I hope he is reading it:

Dear Tun
It is heartening to note that you made clarification MM Lee did not threaten to go war with Malaysia if water issue could not be resolved then. If I can recall clearly, it was Malaysia Foreign Minister Syed Hamid who stupidly uttered the word, "go to war with Singapore" to the media which was widely covered in Singapore then. He later did try to do some damage control, kind of comical though.

On the non water issues, were not all these outstanding issues already agreed by both sides and carefully penned down in the P.O.A signed by Tun Daim for Malaysia and LKY for Singapore but regrettably it was later scuppered by you as PM citing nonsensical reasons/excuses. Which side was the unfriendly party then? If Malaysia can totally ignore the P.O.A, what do you think how the world will look at Malaysia especially you, when you were the PM then? If you can blatantly ignore legally drafted agreement, changing position every now & then, don't put the blame on Singapore. In case you are still not aware or not wanting to accept the fact, we are now exporting our expertise/know-how on recyled-water to other countries. Rightly so, we should thank you for making SIN shining like a sparkling diamond in the world map with our water management skills.

Safra Singapore Bay Run & Army Half Marathon 2009

My preparation for this year's Stanchart 42km full marathon in Dec is going according to schedule so far - it's a first in my lifetime to attempt the full marathon which is a pledge made last year.

In April this year, I did the 10km Singapore PAssion run with Winnie in Sengkang which was her first 10km of her life and boy, she surprised even herself to clock creditable time. She is now making preparation for Stanchart 21km half marathon and with sheer determination, she can complete the race at own pace - 加油, Winnie!

On 24 May, I did the 15km Saucony 100Plus PAssion Run with Chua while Winnie participated in the 10km event. It was a hot morning at East Coast and flagged-off was slightly delayed @ 0800 hrs. I huffed and puffed, finally hit the tape @ 1 hr 28 mins plus and Chua, always a stronger & fitter runner than me finished well ahead of me. It was a good run for me but I did hope the weather would have been more forgiving.

The Singapore Bay Run & Army Half Marathon is a litmus test for me running up to my preparation for the full marathon in December this year. All the training mainly with my two running buddies, Chua and Eddie in the past months had geared me mentally for this 21 km event, my longest run thus far. It was a pity Winnie who had enrolled for the 10 km event could not participate due to foot injury. Wishing you a speedy recovery, Winnie and not to worry, this run was for you too.

Chua picked me up at 4.30am hrs and by 5 am, we arrived at the Esplanade, the starting point. Looking around for toilet but frantic search around, found none and like many guys (wonder how the ladies did it though), we relieved near the bushes. At that hour, it was still dark...phew.

Warmed up enough, we took a casual walk to the start point and at 5.30 hrs, we were flagged off. For about 1 to 2 km, Chua and I stayed together but we will be running on our own pace to gauge how readiness we had prepared for ourselves. We will meet at the car park after the race.

It is always good to start off early in the morning for later than that I could not have imagined the hot sun glaring over us. We ran up the Benjamin Sheares bridge heading to Fort Road, I was maintaining a steady pace. It was still dark at that hour, the only spectators watching us were the construction workers along the Marina IR site.

At Fort Road, we turned to East Coast Park. There was a narrow path, everyone had to squeeze past and true enough, I did witness someone tripped and fell. The organiser could have arranged for that stretch to be broadened; imagine hundreds of runners squeezing through that narrow path.

Did a u-turn along the East Coast Park, we headed to Guillemard Road. At Nicoll Highway, we had covered more than half the distance by then. I was maintaining well, no cramp and no real pain yet. At about 15 km mark, I heard someone calling me from the opposite side and it was Chua. By my 'guesstimate', he was at least more than 1 km ahead of me at that juncture.

Near F1 corporate stands and Singapore Flyer @ 18 km mark, I started to feel cramp on both thighs. As if it was not bad enough, I felt pain on my right sore too. "Shit, my new sleeking-looking Nike running shoes have not been seasoned enough", I thought to myself then. Not wanting to injure myself, I decided to walk to loosen the muscle around my thighs. About 50 m walking, I decided to 'bite the pain' and pressed on. Admittedly, it was a tough tough 3 km to the tape.

At the final stretch near Esplanade, group of run runners making their way to the start point were crossing the road blocking the direction of the energy-sapped 21 km runners. Damn, no usherers to control the charging crowd, the organisers could have pre-empted it but alas, it was overlooked.

When I saw the finishing line at City Hall, I drew out my last quickening my pace at the last 50 m to clock home at 2 hours 14 mins plus. Collected my hard earned medal, gulped down two cans of 100 plus while spreading eagle on the ground. After a short rest, I took a stroll back to the carpark near Fort Canning knowing Chua will be waiting for me. He clocked a creditable time of 2 hours 4 mins plus.

Now, for the full marathon, I know that I must clock longer distance in training and if 21 km is not punishing enough, whatabout 42 km? Practise, practise...there is no short cut to success. My target for 42 km is 6 hours and anything lower than that, it's a bonus. This will cap my final goal for this year and come 2010, what other goal for me to achieve? Well, we shall see.

Semakau Run 2009

Thanks to Eddie, Chua and I had the privilege to join some 300 corporate leaders and government officials in this Semakau Run 2009 which is into its 3rd year running. The uniqueness of Semakau Landfill is that it is an island, just 8 kms south of Singapore is created entirely from the sea space filled with trash. It is an initiative of National Environment Agency started way back in 1995 , a first in the world too.

Semakau Run 2009 is only a short 5 km route, along the stretch of road in the landfill and its breezy surrounding simply blew you away.

We took the ferry at Pasir Panjang Ferry Terminal, just a short 20 mins ride away. At about 5.30 pm, the guest-of-honour, Minister Yaacob Ibrahim flagged us off. We did not intend to compete for fast times, instead chose to do a leisure jog around.

After the run, there was a sumptous dinner waiting for us before heading back to Singapore.

We enjoyed the trip and the run and we certainly look forward to another one next year.